Boiler-turning cradle



May 1, 1923. mssjos J. CROMBIE BOILER TURNINGCRADLE Filed Dec. 30. 1921 Patented May l, 1923.

JAMES onoraria, orsi'. Louis, Mrssoonr.-

BOILER-TURNING (JRADLE.`

Application led December 30, 19121.Y Serial No. 525,951.

alignment for boring or reaming rivet holes therein. y

The code of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers requires that all boiler shells be drilled or holes punched one quarter inch (35) small and reamed to size. This drilling or reaming is done under a drill press, or wall radial drill, the boiler being set on the rollers of a cradle and rotated by means of a screw jack, chain hoist, or in more up-to-date shops with a belt and pulley geared to the roller shaft. ln each of these cases, it is necessary to provide an extra workman or helper to operate the turning device, that is, to turn the screw jack, actuating the chain hoist, or shift the belt from the loose pulley to the tight pulley v and vice versa, in order to rotate the pulley shellto bring the next hole in proper position for drilling. This means great loss of time as the drill operator after finishing one hole has to sign to the helper to move the boiler to the next hole. The helper down on the floor cannot see how far he has rotated the boiler shell and must depend on the sign given him by the drillI operator, so that sometimes he turns the boiler too far,

while at other times not far enough.

The present invention is designed to eliminate this loss of time and dispenses with the helper entirely. To this end, the cradle is operated by a reversible electric motor having a magnetic control panel with which as many push button or switch stations as are necessary are connected so that one of said stations may be always in easy reach of the drill operator, no matter what 59 size of boiler shell is being worked upon. These switch stations are preferably placed at intervals along the arm of t-he drill and project downwardlyv therefrom so that the drill operator can readily put vbis hand on.

themfrOm keither side of the drill. Each switch station preferably consists of two push, buttons for operating the motor in oppositedirections, the boiler being only ro-` tated as vlong` as one of the buttons `is pressed, so thatv when said buttons are released the .motor stops, and the boiler vceases vto rotate. ,The operator being directly in quiclrlypcenteithe next hole in line with the drillano workin either direction.

The invention will bel first hereinafter de-I scribed in connection with the accompany,

ing drawings, which constitute'part of this specification, and then more specifically defined in the claims at the end of the description.

ln the accompanying drawings, wherein similar reference characters are used to designate corresponding parts throughout the several views: n

Figure l is lan elevation of a drill press and boiler turning cradle having the present invention applied thereto.

Figure 2 is a sectional view on the line II-Il of Figure l showing more particularly the actuating means for the active rollers of the cradle.

The drill press 1 is suitably mounted on a wall o-r other support 2 and has a horizontally extending arm 5 adapted to vbe adjusted vertically to accommodate different sizes of boiler shells 12. The drill or reamer 4.- is mounted on a carriage 3 which is adjustable along the arm 5 to bring said drill or reamerdirectly over the axis of the boiler shell. Said drill or rearner is rotated by means of an electric-motor 6 geared at 7 to a vertical shaft 8, in turn geared at 9to a horizontal shaft l0 running along the arm 5the drill or reamer itself being geared at 11 to said horizontal shaft 10.

rlhe cradle on which the boiler shell 12is Vsupported and rotated consists of a plurality of angle bars 17 in which roller shafts 15 and 16 are suitably journalled, The shaft 15 may be mounted in fixed journals and carry a worm gear19 meshing with a worm 20 on an operating shaft 21, suitably liournalled at 22 and carrying a gear 23 meshing with a gear 24 on the armature shaft of a reversible electric motor 25. The rollers 13 on said shaft 15 are, therefore, the active rollers of the turntable, and the rotation thereo in' .front-and looking down upon the hole can one direction or the other by the motor 25 will cause the boiler shell 12 to rotate in the corresponding direction.

The shaft 16 carries rollers 14 Which idly support the boiler shell 12, and a plurality ot' spaced journal notches 18 are provided in the bars 17 for adjusting said shaft at different distances from the active roller shaft 15 so as to adapt the cradle to accommodate different sizes of boiler shells. The drill operatormay sit upon the top of the boiler shell or stand on a platform 31 erected at one side of said boiler shell. In either position, he is in easy reach of the hand lever 30 for raising and lowering the drill or reamer 4, and also in reach of one or more of a series of push button or switch stations 29 depending at intervals from the drill arm 5 and adapted to control the opera-tion of the motor 25 through a conductor cord 28 leading to a magnetic control panel 27, in turn connected to the motor by a conductor cord 26. The cradle may thus be readily controlled by the drill opera-tor, thereby expediting his Work and also saving the expense of a separate Workman which Was necessary for operating said cradle, in the prior mechanisms hereinbeiore mentioned.

l claim:

1. In combination, a boiler turning cradle for a drill press comprising a set of supporting rolls tWo of which are connected to rotate as a pair, a reversible electric motor connected to said pair of rolls to positively rotate the same in either direction, and controls for said motor located on the drill press convenient to the drill controlling mechanism. v

2. ln combination, a boiler turning` cradle for a drill press comprising a set of supporting rolls two of which are connected to ro' tateas a pair, a reversible electric motor connected to said pair of rolls to positively rotate the same in either direction, and controls for said motor located on the drill press at spaced intervals convenient to difl'erentV positions of the drill controlling mechanism. In testimony whereof l have signed my ,name to this specification.

JAMES CROMBIE. 

